In March 2010, Congress passed, and President Obama signed, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA was never implemented as written…
First, those who will drop Obamacare plans are not enthusiastic consumers of Obamacare. Last year, about one in five Obamacare enrollees stopped paying premiums. Rather, employer-based health benefits have been shrinking as Obamacare has increased the regulatory burden of offering benefits on employers, and incentivized them to reduce working hours. According to the Congressional Budget Office, there will be 2.5 million fewer full time jobs in 2017 than if Obamacare had not been enacted.
States which accept the loss of the illegal subsidies will also lose the employer and individual mandates to buy government-defined health insurance. These are generally the most reviled features of Obamacare and any governor or state legislature that re-imposes them will face the wrath of many businesses and workers. States will also recognize that relief from the mandates give their businesses a comparative advantage against competitors in states where Obamacare still lies heavy.
Nevertheless, the President will surely ask Congress to amend the law to open the subsidy spigot again. This creates an opportunity. Unfortunately, it is not the opportunity to repeal and replace the ACA, which most Americans have waited for five years. It has to be an amendment that the President will sign. Making it more difficult, the President has the advantage of being able to propose a simple, one-page bill that simply amends the ACA to pay subsidies through the federal exchange.
Congress need not panic. Here are four proposals that both Congress and the President should find acceptable:
Read entire article via Obamacare versus the Affordable Care Act | Health Policy Blog | NCPA.org.
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